In the Battle of Jingxing, what was the reason why Han Xin was able to defeat the many with less?

The Battle of Jingxing was the second classic battle since Han Xin unified the army. It was also a confrontation with the general Chen Yu who claimed to be proficient in the art of war. But it is a pity that Zhao State General Chen Yu's opponent this time is the "Soldier Immortal" Han Xin, and his opponent is too powerful. In general, the gap in strength between the two sides is quite large. Chen Yuqing Zhao had 200,000 soldiers. At this time, Han Xin's army was taken away by Liu Bang on the pretext of strengthening the defense of Xingyang City, and most of its elite troops were taken away. There are only tens of thousands of old and weak soldiers. Therefore, from the perspective of the quantity and quality of the troops, the Battle of Jingxing is not easy to fight. But why did Han Xin win again?

Jingxing is a narrow and dangerous passage. Two chariots cannot run parallel to each other, and cavalry cannot line up. Therefore, the teams passing here must be very scattered and unable to form defense formations. In other words, if a war breaks out when passing through Jingxing, too many troops will not be effective at all. Instead, they will cause crowding and become the target of the enemy. Therefore, Jingxing has always been a battleground for military strategists. If you occupy Jingxing, you will have an advantage.

To enter Zhao from Wei, you must pass through Jingxing. Chen Yu had a general named Li Zuoche, who was the grandson of the original Zhao general Li Mu and was very resourceful. Li Zuoche suggested to Chen Yu that he should send out 30,000 surprise troops to ambush on the hidden path of Jingxing. After Han Xin's large army passed by, he would intercept the Han army's food and baggage. At the same time, the Zhao army held firm at Jingxingkou and refused to fight. The Han army, which had run out of food and grass, naturally collapsed without attacking. But Chen Yu believed that although Han Xin claimed to have tens of thousands of troops, he actually only had a few thousand. He dared to attack Zhao with his exhausted troops thousands of miles away. If Zhao still refused to escape, the princes would laugh at him, so Li Zuoche's strategy was not adopted.

Han Xin sent intelligence officers to find out that Chen Yu did not adopt Li Zuoche's plan. He was very happy, so he led his troops into the narrow road of Jingxing. When he was thirty miles away from Jingxingkou, he ordered them to camp and bury pots to make rice. He ordered the soldiers to sleep with their clothes on, and sure enough, in the middle of the night, he suddenly ordered an attack. Han Xin picked 2,000 light cavalry, each holding a Han flag, and went up the mountain from a hidden path to hide near Zhao Jun's camp. He ordered these 2,000 soldiers to rush into Zhao Jun's camp as soon as they saw Zhao Jun out in force. At the camp, the flags of the Zhao army were pulled down and the flags of the Han army were erected.

Han Xin also ordered the Huotou Army to prepare meals and start the meal immediately after defeating Zhao Jun. The generals under his command couldn't believe that the outcome of the war was still undecided, but they didn't dare to talk back at will. They murmured in their hearts, how confident is Han Xin? Han Xin also ordered 10,000 soldiers to quickly pass through Jingxingkou and form a battle array with their backs to the river. When Zhao Jun saw him from a distance, they all laughed at Han Xin because he didn't know how to fight. At dawn, Han Xin raised the flag of the Chinese general, ordered the honor guard to go ahead, and drove out of Jingxingkou with great fanfare.

The Zhao army opened its camp and attacked the Han army. After a fierce battle for a long time, the Han army pretended to be defeated and fled back to its position by the river, abandoning its armor. As expected, the Zhao army mobilized to pursue the Han army. After the Han army entered the battle formation by the river, it had no way to retreat, and the whole army fought desperately. Although the Zhao army had advantages in numbers and terrain, it could not quickly destroy the Han army. At this time, the two thousand light cavalry who had been ambushing Zhao Jun's camp in advance rushed into Zhao Jun's empty camp, pulled out all Zhao Jun's flags, and replaced them with two thousand Han flags.

Seeing that he could not win quickly, Chen Yu wanted to retreat to the camp and fight again after a good meal. But when he returned to the army, he saw that the camp was filled with flags of the Han army. Chen Yu was shocked, thinking that the Han army had captured all the generals of King Zhao. The soldiers fled one after another, and Chen Yu was unable to stop them. So Han Xin led the troops arrayed on the river bank with their backs to the water, and attacked the Zhao army in the camp from both sides. The Zhao army was defeated and scattered in all directions. The Han army completely destroyed the Zhao army, captured a large number of troops, and captured Zhao Wangxie alive on the bank of the Sishui River.

Chen Yu's biggest mistake was that he failed to use Li Zuoche's plan and set up an ambush at Jingxing, thus losing the opportunity to defeat the enemy. Chen Yu also had problems with his troops. After the army set off, the camp was wide open, allowing the Han army's 2,000 light cavalry to rush in easily. Also, Chen Yu, who had led troops for many years, was unable to organize a counterattack and recapture the camp. This also shows that his ability to lead troops is a bit exaggerated.

Just imagine, after the defeat, the Zhao army still outnumbered the Han army in terms of number of soldiers. If Chen Yu organized the defeated troops and still fought back to the camp, could the two thousand soldiers of the Han army withstand it?

In the Battle of Jingxing, Han Xin only led tens of thousands of troops and defeated Zhao's army of 200,000. Han Xin's plan: first collect intelligence and learn that Zhao Jun has no intention of ambush, and march boldly; then send out surprise troops to lurk near Zhao Jun's camp; then send 10,000 soldiers out of Jingxingkou to form an unreasonable backwater formation; and then the army They swaggered out from Jingxingkou to attract the main force of the Zhao army; they pretended to retreat and entered the battle formation to hold back the main force of the Zhao army; 2,000 Han troops who had been ambushed in advance quickly broke the base and changed flags; intelligence warfare, surprise warfare, suspicion warfare, and psychological warfare The mixed use of , courage and warfare resulted in a major defeat of the Zhao army.